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Regents re-do affirmative action vote

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BY MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Mar 07, 2008 - 04:33:36 pm CST

New voices, same vote.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents issued a re-do Friday on a resolution opposing a proposed constitutional ban on affirmative action, following complaints regents hadn’t heard both sides when they first voted in January.

At that time, the board voiced unanimous support for programs and scholarships to boost racial and gender diversity at NU, which the university says are at risk under the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, a movement to end race- and gender-based affirmative action in the state.

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But the board’s discussion of the issue wasn’t included on the pre-printed agenda released to the public about a week before the meeting. That angered Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative supporters, who say NU intentionally shut out their views.

UNL chemistry professor Gerard Harbison accused the board of violating the Nebraska Open Meetings Act and said he’d go to court if regents didn’t void the resolution.

Regents Chairman Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons maintains that the board was in compliance with state law.

But the board revisited the issue to show its commitment to open-meetings rules, he said.

This time, in five-minute blocks, two Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative allies had their say.

The board’s vote didn’t change.

“We will jeopardize many of the programs we have” if an affirmative-action ban passes, said Regent Howard Hawks of Omaha.

NU is committed to diversity, President J.B. Milliken said.

“I remain convinced that the programs that we identified would be at risk under (a ban) and I think that would be a mistake,” Milliken said. “That would be a bad thing for the University of Nebraska.”

Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative supporters reject assertions that programs like NU women’s centers and minority recruitment efforts would be in jeopardy if affirmative action is outlawed.

Universities in California, where a similar ban is in place, still have women’s centers, for example, Harbison told regents. And they still have outreach programs geared toward different racial groups.

What’s illegal there, he said, are programs that exclude any racial or gender group.

“It is not the goal of (the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative) to end outreach. … The goal of NCRI is to end discrimination and preferences,” he said.

Marc Schniederjans, the initiative’s treasurer and a UNL management professor, told regents the presidential candidacies of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama show the country is ready to move past sexism and racism.

Assumptions that women and minorities can’t be successful without affirmative action are far outdated, Schniederjans said.

“This country and this state are moving on and most of us don’t want to be held back by the discrimination of the past,” he said.

Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative supporters are gathering petition signatures to place a race- and gender-based affirmative action ban on November ballots. They say they’re confident they’ll get the 115,000 signatures they need before July 4.

Hassebrook, voicing support for affirmative action, recalled a recent dinner with a Hispanic family from Columbus.

The daughter, he said, will come to the University of Nebraska at Kearney this fall, thanks to special efforts by UNK’s Latino recruitment coordinator.

Her admission to UNK hurts no one and helps all Nebraskans, Hassebrook said.

“That woman is displacing no other student at UNK. … She’s not taking the place of somebody else,” he said.

“Everybody in Nebraska oughta cheer to see that young woman going to college and becoming a contributing member of our state.”

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.


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dd wrote on March 7, 2008 4:44 pm:
" blah blah blah blah blah. Must be pretty easy for millionaires like Howard Hawks and J.B Miliken to say what they are saying. You wanna create diversity J.B.? Step down from your position as president of the university and allow a black man to take your position. I'll never understand how hypocritical these people are. So long as it only negatively affects "other" people, then they are fine with endorsing a Liberal friendly view. And I don't think it is extreme to tell J.B to step down from his position and inform the university that the reason that he is stepping down is because we need "diversity" in the highest levels of university administration. These fat-cat white guys have some nerve to endorse something such as this and yet, not walk the walk when it comes to jeopardizing their own futures. J.B has enough money to retire. That I can assure you. So why doesn't he do what I suggest? I think it is an excellent way to advance his cause ten-fold. "
aj wrote on March 7, 2008 4:57 pm:
" NCRI = Bigotry. Kudos to the Regents. "
whatever wrote on March 7, 2008 7:56 pm:
" The racist regents simply don't get it. Nor do the racists who support them. "
As a student of color I applaud the Regents wrote on March 7, 2008 8:42 pm:
" As a graduate of the University, I benefitted from one of the programs in 2002, under the Office of Undergraduate Studies that would be cut/eliminated if this petition goes through. And I would be sad that the state of Nebraska wants to keep people who come from diverse backgrounds who have historically been under-represented at UNL from being able to afford an education at any University of Nebraska system school. I fear what the results of the vote in November will say, I also feel sad for those who will claim the bill is in line with Dr. King's vision for a color blind society. Because I have not lived in one in my lifetime. I realize the impact the color of my skin has had, and I cannot wait for the day I can establish a scholarship for students like myself Low income, first generation, and students of color. Then no vote no matter how tinged with racial overtones can hold these students back. UNL Alum Class of 2006 "
Say What? wrote on March 7, 2008 9:31 pm:
" aj - How does ending reverse discrimination become bigotry? The real bigots are those who continue to support reverse discrimination. It is insulting to oppress the current generation for the misdeeds of a prior generation while promoting mediocrity in giving preference to people less qualified just because they meet a profile. Two wrongs do not make a right. The University talks about equity but practices discrimination in the name of equity. "
TG wrote on March 7, 2008 10:44 pm:
" A group of upper-middle class or even wealthy white males sitting around cheering on diversity. Paradoxical.....at best. "
Jonathan wrote on March 8, 2008 12:17 am:
" To "Say What?"--what evidence do you have that people are "less qualified" due to affirmative action programs? People like to point to that trope, yet they conveniently ignore the fact that individuals have to meet a whole slew of requirements to even be considered for a program, whether it is a job, scholarship, or whatever.

It's insulting that people suggest that affirmative action gives "preference to people less qualified" because race or gender are one of MANY factors considered, yet nobody yells about the many white males who get into programs, receive a job or scholarships because they're from a rural area, come from a lower-income status, or came from a suburban school but had LOWER test scores, lower grades, or came from a family that donates money or has inside connections, etc. Pure merit alone has never been the sole consideration.

Hypocrisy, eh? "
Alex wrote on March 8, 2008 12:18 am:
" "the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, a movement to end race- and gender-based affirmative action in the state."

The NCRI isn't a "movement." It's a couple of UNL professors, funded by one of the most despicable New York businessmen in recent history, and headed by a far-right YAFer from Michigan. That's astroturf, not grassroots. "
they just don't get it wrote on March 8, 2008 5:38 am:
" The previous story is about how underpaid the faculty are. Why are they funding "special efforts by Latino recruitment coordinators" at UNK? How about funding the math professors at UNK?

How about special efforts for recruiting nursing students, regardless of their parent's skin color? "
To Say What wrote on March 8, 2008 11:14 am:
" Why do you say we are being punished for previous generations? I'm sorry - I never got the memo that racism and sexism no longer existed. Get a clue - read the comments in some of the articles on immigration and see what some of your fellow Nebraskans think of all Hispanics. Women and minorities still do not get equal treatment in general searches - that's a fact. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on March 8, 2008 11:28 am:
" This is a link to the Chicano/Latino student development office at U California Berkeley.

http://multicultural.berkeley.edu/clsd/

Although the California Civil Rights Initiative, which has identical wording to the main clause of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, has been the law in California for a decade, clearly there has been no legal problem with programs that recruit, support or do outreach to Latino students. Those programs are thriving. Regent Hassebrook and President Milliken are deliberately misleading the public when they cry wolf and claim programs such as these will be illegal under NCRI. "
cilly wrote on March 8, 2008 1:47 pm:
" there are studies that show that nearly 15% of all current ivy league students were not qualified to attend the school but had "special exceptions" aka rich parents that allowed them to attend. until the day that minorities can benefit from power and priviledge there needs to be programs such as affirmative action. "
cilly wrote on March 8, 2008 2:00 pm:
" I consistently see many candidates that are hired due to their connections. Affirmative action in public entities are in place to help curb these practices from happening. I know everybody loves to think that such discriminatory acts no longer happen and racism is a act of the past, but I guess its hard to see when you don’t pay attention, take a look around your work place and see how many African Americans/Latino Americans are in your workplace/college classes, then remember that these two groups make up close to 15% of the local population then ask yourself if affirmative action is needed? "

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